Jensen Huang stepped down as chief executive, president, and a director of Nvidia on Thursday ending a 33-year tenure at the helm of the world’s most valuable artificial intelligence chipmaker.
The company reached a $1 trillion market capitalization on May 30, 2023, and subsequently hit $5 trillion in October last year, becoming the first company to reach that milestone, according to The Guardian. By the financial year that ended in January 2026, the company was generating $215.9 billion in annual revenue. He steered the enterprise from a startup into the dominant supplier of semiconductors powering the global artificial intelligence boom.
BREAKING: Nvidia stock, $NVDA, pares losses, rising back above $163/share, as investors buy the dip after Jensen Huang resigns. The stock has now erased half of its loss on the day. Nvidia’s future remains highly uncertain. pic.twitter.com/fewcoGJqC9
The sudden departure followed an independent board inquiry into reports regarding personal relationships and allegations involving a suspected Chinese intelligence operation. Reuters reported that the board met on November 11 to consider removing Huang, and Nvidia announced his resignation the following morning without detailing findings from the independent inquiry. Meta’s founder Mark Zuckerberg had previously described Huang as “Taylor Swift, but for tech”.
Colette Kress Takes Interim Chief Executive Role
The board appointed long-serving chief financial officer Colette Kress as interim chief executive while it searches for a permanent successor, considering both internal and external candidates, NDTV Profit reported. Harvey C. Jones, a board member since the company’s founding year, became Nvidia’s first-ever chairman.
Industry Leaders Praise Huang's Decades of Leadership
Technology executives and industry figures praised Huang’s decades of leadership following the announcement.
“Thank you Jensen Huang for 33 years of bold leadership. You built a small startup into America’s most valuable company, with relentless improvement. Your grit and perseverance should always be remembered,” said Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity.
Srinivas also wrote that Huang’s personal generosity with time and advice to founders secured a bright future for America and artificial intelligence.
Michael Owens, Mayor of Mableton and President of the US Global Center for Cyber Policy, said that Huang was much more than just a chief executive, adding that his resignation amid controversy challenged the corporation's future, accountability, and America's leadership in artificial intelligence.
The events served as a lesson in humility for Nvidia and its investors decades on from those shifts at Denny’s, which included a moment when Huang successfully renegotiated a hardware development agreement with Sega.
What did the board find in the independent inquiry, and who will take over permanently?
Earlier coverage: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Faces Investigation Amid Personal Scandal and Spy Allegations
You're going to get a lot of AI FUD today but just remember that $META, $AMZN, $GOOGL, $SPCX and $MSFT aren't suddenly going to stop building capacity, enterprises aren't going to abandon AI adoption and inference workloads aren't going to disappear because $NVDA has a new CEO.… pic.twitter.com/QRUZwXczAB
More on Jensen Huang
The New York Times reports Jensen Huang allegedly had another affair, this time with $NVDA VP of Healthcare Kimberly Powell citing five people who worked at the company. The two were reportedly seen being affectionate at a hotel during Nvidia's March conference. pic.twitter.com/JrvMc302Xd
